Rebelle

"Berlin Film Festival-winning French war drama that tells the story of Komona, a girl kidnapped at the age of 12 by rebel soldiers and enslaved to a life of guerrilla warfare in the African jungle. Forced to commit unspeakable acts of brutality, she finds hope for survival in protective, ghost-like visions (inspiring a rebel chief to anoint her 'War Witch'), and in a tender relationship with a fellow soldier named Magician."

"Along with the moral lesson, Nguyen remembers to give auds some pleasures, including... Nicolas Bolduc's cinematography and the very artful use of sound throughout."

"The film's subject is almost too horrible to contemplate, but it finds a way to space out the blows without softening them."

"Committed to revealing the world through Komona's eyes, and you never feel a taint of voyeurism or condescension. It stays true to her."

"The powerful things we expect from War Witch are as advertised, but what we don't expect is even better."

"Sensitively imagined story... a genre benchmark and a breakout work for writer-director Kim Nguyen."

"A remarkably mature portrait that trusts its audience to have their own reactions to its material; it doesn't yank at the heartstrings so much as expertly tune them."